Rita doesn’t leave Alex’s side.Maybe I should actually feel good about that, knowing he has someone to support him when he’s clearly feeling off. He likely needs someone there directly there to help him through whatever’s happening.Still, I can’t deny that it’s painful, watching him go from class to class with her by his side. The students all gawk at his presence, with teachers sometimes talking with him in the class, sometimes moving out to the hall. I hide around corners and in doorways, waiting for the moment he’ll finally be alone so I can try talking with him again.
When I wake up the next day, I feel numb. Carved out.Hailey’s yells still echo in my ears.“What the fuck, Alex?! Why are you treating her like this, huh?! Do you know how long she looked for you? She was one of the only people who never stopped thinking you were alive! She even went searching in the forest for you! But this is how you treat her when you come back?! Fuck you!”She’d screamed it at lunchtime, skipping part of her class to help comfort me since her lunch period hadn’t started yet. I was sitting alone at the table Alex and I used
When the stranger smiles, a shudder runs up my spine.Smiles have many different emotions to them. Sometimes they’re happy, or grimacing in pain, or tilted sarcastically. A smile is not always a good sign.And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile so malicious in my life.The school…has to be closed. The guards must have locked the doors so they can’t get in. Right?They watch me, tilting their head as I back up a step, wanting to sink back into the darkness of the school. Then, I see them dig into the pocket of their trench coat, pulling something out. They move the object in their hand to the upper corner of the door.I hear the telltale click of an undone lock.He has the keys.Immediately, I turn tail and run, darting back into one of the nearby hallways.The posters I’d been looking at before are a blur. There’s no time to focus. I have to call the police.But first, I have to hide.This building is so damn empty, so all my steps echo. If they come in while I’m running, they’ll he
Finding out that Alex is a werewolf makes sense in hindsight. Of course, I wouldn’t have thought of it. I never knew werewolves were real.But they are. And when they fight, it’s vicious.It’s all claws and teeth, taking advantage of their weight and power. If it was against a human, I know for a fact they’d be reduced to a splatter in seconds.The stranger yelps again as Alex slams him into a row of lockers. I wince, curled up as I am, but I don’t make a sound.Alex grabs the other’s head and turns before driving it into the ground. I see blood dribble into the small new crater in the floor.But the other werewolf isn’t out yet. He reaches up and swipes with his claws before twisting his way out of Alex’s hold. He snaps his jaws at Alex’s chin, but Alex turns his head away.Back and forth, the shove and struggle. The stranger even pins Alex, but he kicks him off, quickly returning the favor.His mark doesn’t miss, clamping down on the stranger’s shoulder. Alex’s right hand grabs and
School is out for the next three days for investigation into the damage in the halls. Though, there was more than just dented lockers and broken tiles. After Alex rode home with me, he disappeared into the woods near the house, returning to school to take the camera footage. He entered the school area from a different angle, so he was able to find Officer Giles, unconscious and bleeding from the head. Thankfully, police found him since Alex moved him to an easy-to-see spot near the parking lot after putting in a call. Because an officer had been attacked, the cooling anxiety around wolf attacks turned into a frenzy about violent thieves. The principal figured it would be best to let police handle some things while teachers sent us homework online. Even so, there’s a small light in this situation. Alex is texting me again
“I swear, this lil shit—”“Wait up!” “Can’t. Either you catch up or you go to class or something!” Despite how sudden the running is, I manage to not pull a muscle as I follow after Rita. I don’t exactly know why we’re rushing, but I have an inkling of an idea. As we approach the front doors to the school, I see security perk up, quickly getting themselves together. I recognize them dimly. Maybe from around the pool months back? “Sss-orry! Family Emerrrgency!” They pause long enough for Rita to get through the doors, with me following closely after. We do a quick right turn, running around to the side of the school. I’m almost certain of what she’s looki
I grunt as my body hits the ground, quickly looking over as I hear something crash into the trees. The man from the school night is back, his body twisted into the werewolf’s form. His gnarled teeth gnash as he turns, preparing to jump at me as his eyes glow in the low light of the overcast forest. He lets out something akin to a roar, and I scramble to my feet to run away. But Rita passes me, running toward him. Her body crackles and shifts, shoes left behind, as her smaller body gains a snout, sharp teeth, and claws. With an angry howl-like bark, she slashes toward his face, but he backs away. And just like that night in school, they begin trying to rip out each other’s throat as quickly as possible. I scramble to hide behind a tree and watch. My clothes get messy from the ground, my skirt feeling wet and tacky a
As I start explaining my logic to them, Alex and Rita calm down. Their expressions go from pensive to considering. Then, Alex tells me something shocking. “Actually…after we came back from the movies, that guy… He was there, watching your house.” My mouth gapes in shock. Then, the wolf growling and snarling I heard that night…that was Alex fighting him. And the next day, his eyes were brighter than usual. Even now, his eyes still have bright remnants of gold, and his smell is stronger than normal. Rita’s eyes are also gleaming, the smell of rosehip tea coming from her direction. I’m really not sure how other people don’t notice these things when it seems so obvious to me. “Fuck, okay,” Rita murmurs. “So, that guy was already after her from the jump.” &l